Importation of exotic birds in the United States has now been limited by law as well as by circumstances associated with destruction of the tropical forests of the world. Hence, many importers are turning to domestic breeders to maintain an adequate supply. However, in attempting to create a domestic breeding environment, especially one related to more expensive rare birds such as cockatoos, many breeders have found that their efforts are uneconomic. Often, expenses escalate because of several factors, inter alia, (i) the need for human supervision of the breeding boxes and (ii) the requirement of shipping fully assembled breeding boxes to distributors because of complexity of construction wherein bulk (not weight) unduly increases costs per unit.
Also, it has been found that the males of the specie are difficult to control during the breeding cycle. They have very strong beaks and are often very aggressive during the breeding season. The mating behavior of males is dominant and he will often attempt to corner the female in the breeding box and attack her with his strong beak to force copulation. If not then separated from the female, the male can so disrupt the breeding cycle that the female is kept from incubating, turning and ultimately hatching the eggs. Hence, there is a need to provide a temporizing breeding environment for strong beaked exotic birds, viz., cockatoos, that permits the female to nest but nevertheless, during the male's fits of aggression (usually of short duration) allows her the opportunity to escape the nesting region unhurt. She can later return to her eggs after the male's aggression subsides.